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Category Archives: lucasfilm

While we are eagerly awaiting news of how the bonus content for The Clone Warswill take shape, the show picked up nominations for the 41st Annie Awards, given out for the best in animation. Announced by ASIFA-Hollywood, nominations for The Clone Wars included two individual achievement categories: Keith Kellogg for Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production and Jason W.A. Tucker for Editorial in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production. The nominations were released today, and the award winners will be announced in February.

Our frequent interviewee Michael Price, writer of the LEGO Star Wars specials earned a nomination for Writing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production for his work on The Simpsons. Juried awards have already been announced, including the Winsor McCay Awards to Steven Spielberg and Phil Tippett.

ILM also continued its streak of Annie award nominations, with four nominations, three of them in a single category of Animated Effects in a Live Action Production (two different teams for Star Trek Into Darkness and one for Pacific Rim). Another Pacific Rim ILM team got a nomination for Character Animation in a Live Action Production.

In a matter of hours, it’ll be a full year since the Lucasfilm sale to Disney was announced. We still don’t know that much about Episode VII – most of the confirmed information still fits on one page at StarWars.com – but we can be confident that they’re working on it, at least.

Jedi News has snagged an image from the European Brand Licensing Show that reveals a few things about Lucasfilm and Disney’s marketing plans going forward.

First off, in spring/summer 2014, there’s ‘Classic LEGO Games Mobile” release, which speaks for itself, and “Darth Vader Themed TV Specials.” With Rebels is named separately and no LEGO, what form could these take? This is, quite literally, the first we’ve heard.

In autumn/winter 2014, there’s mention of a “Digital Library Launch.” Given the context here, I don’t believe this is anything to do with the books – which are already available digitally anyway – but to the release of the films themselves in a digital format (Apple TV, perhaps?) And I really doubt they’ll come alone – this could be a venue for The Clone Wars, other cartoons (Ewoks, Droids, Clone Wars 2D) and various specials from over the years – From Star Wars to Jedi, maybe, or even the Holiday Special. And even if it’s only the movies themselves, a digital release is long overdue.

And finally, there’s a reiteration of spring/summer 2015 for Episode VII. Shocking.

Gaming.Kotaku has a lengthy write-up/expose on the last days – and games – of LucasArts. There’s plenty on the evolution of the game that was announced as 1313, and what was going on behind-the-scenes after the Disney sale. Interesting stuff – even for a non-gamer.

Star Wars Reads. A number of locations have been added to the StarWars.com list of venues participating on October 5. Ashley Eckstein, Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, Martha Wells, John Jackson Miller and many other EU luminaries will be attending events around the country. (Anyone else considering the Ann Arbor stop?)

The blogside. Over at Fangirl, there’s a interesting piece on speculation and how having too much knowledge of the franchise puts fan bloggers in a precarious position. Personally, although I do and will continue to report rumors, I’ve been staying away from outright speculation – mostly because it just annoys me, honestly. I don’t mind spoilers, but as an EU and fanfic fan I’ve read more than enough half-baked versions of our favorite characters – and while I have no plans to go spoiler-free (none at all) I am willing to wait and judge on the finished product. Let’s not forget that it isn’t always the basic ingredients that make something succeed or fail – it’s the execution. And that we won’t see in full until the movie is in theaters.

Actors.The Hollywood Reporter concern-trolls Harrison Ford. Harrison Ford does what he wants, damnit. And they also found a few Sith who’d be up for a return – Ray Park and David Prowse. Somehow I doubt a dude who can’t even get a Celebration invite is going to get a movie part, though.

Steve Sansweet reveals the Revenge of the Sith title via t-shirt at SDCC ’04.

For those of us who remember the prequel era, perhaps the most puzzling part of fan speculation about Episode VII reveals has been the assumption that a title would be offered this early in the process. Mike Ryan at The Huffington Post has a nice look at Star Wars title announcements – and wonder no more why none of us veterans* are expecting to see a full title before mid-2014.

A few more pieces emerged yesterday about fan expectations in the wake of D23. Germain Lussier at Slashfilm points out in his (occasionally eye-roll worthy) piece on the backlash, part of the issue is that the landscape of movie announcements has changed drastically over the years. Most pointedly, Marvel is giving fans their titles, characters and other tidbits long before they begin filming. On the other hand, Scott Mendelson thinks that Marvel and others actually reveal far too much about their films before they’re out. And even Harrison Ford has spoken out on the trend, saying that if Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark came out today they “would be no fun at all.”

We’re in a holding period for Episode VII right now. We have some varied answers from folks at the top, but with the notoriously secretive J.J. Abrams at the helm we can probably safely predict they won’t be nearly as forthcoming as the Marvel folks. And maybe that’s a good thing. (Or are they just driving us on?) It’s a whole new landscape, and even Lucasfilm is still figuring it out. So again: patience.

According to the D23 schedule, Lucasfilm will be part of Disney’s live-action panel Saturday, August 10th. Here’s the description, straight from the site:

Let the Adventures Begin: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios
Go behind the scenes at The Walt Disney Studios with this revealing look at our upcoming roster of live-action adventures from Disney, Marvel, and Lucasfilm. Fans will enjoy exclusive video clips, filmmaker discussions, and star appearances at this session hosted by Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, Disney Live Action Production President Sean Bailey, and Marvel Studios President and Producer Kevin Feige. With Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Disney’s Maleficent, Saving Mr. Banks, Tomorrowland, and Muppets Most Wanted, coming down the pike, make sure to claim your spot for the total package—surprises included! Cell phones, cameras, and all recording devices will be checked for this presentation.

The panel is 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT (1:30-3:30 p.m. EDT.)

Of course, it could be nothing but the usual ‘Whoo, yay, Episode VII, here’s a bunch of stuff franchise devotees already know’ spiel. We’ve gotten ourselves all hyped up and resultingly undersold enough lately to know not to count on anything new, no matter what the rumor mill says… Right? (via)

Yes, there are the legal documents and all that, but where does the Foodles name actually come from? Big Shiny Robot has a inkling: Foodles happens to be the name of a restaurant near the pre-Presidio ILM headquarters. Curiouser and curiouser…

The Wrap reports that the Paramount/CBS scuffle over Star Trek merchandising rights prevented J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot from doing quite as much as they would have liked to with the franchise off-screen – and that struggle could have had a part in him signing on with Lucasfilm. His Star Wars contract may allow Abrams a hand in the Star Wars “television properties, theme park rides and spin-off films” that will emerge in the new era his Episode VII is spearheading.

As successful as “Star Trek” has been, few franchises match the profitability and cultural prominence of George Lucas’ space opera, which would be difficult for any director to pass up.

Moreover, Willenson notes that Abrams, who has a deal that is believed to include creative and profit participation in “Star Wars” inspired merchandise and spin-offs, will have more control in shaping the legacy of the Skywalker clan than he would have had with developing side projects for the “Star Trek” crew.

Granted, while Lucasfilm, and thus Disney, does own most of Star Wars free and clear, the franchise isn’t totally free of hurtles. 20th Century Fox has distribution rights to the first Star Wars“in perpetuity,” while the other 5 will revert to LFL in 2020. This could complicate things like box sets in the future, but for Abrams, that’s not going to be an immediate issue, or stop him from exploring multi-platform options.